2010–11 Scottish League Cup


The 2010–11 Scottish League Cup is the 65th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish League Cup, also known as the Co-operative Insurance Cup for sponsorship reasons. The competition started in July 2010 with the First Round and ended in Spring 2011 with the Final. Rangers are the current title holder, having beaten Celtic in the 2011 final.

Format

The competition is a single elimination knock-out competition. In each round, fixtures are determined by random draw. Fixtures are played to a finish, with extra time and then penalties used in the event of ties. The competition is open to all clubs in the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League. Clubs involved in European competitions are given a bye to the third round to avoid congestion of fixtures.
Club Entry Points –
The format of the first and second rounds was adjusted for this season. Previously the club promoted into the SPL entered in the Second Round alongside the other non-European SPL sides, with the side relegated to the First Division entering in the first round alongside the other SFL sides. However, this situation has been reversed, meaning Inverness Caledonian Thistle entered the tournament in the First Round – despite being promoted to SPL; and Falkirk entered in the second round – despite being relegated.
The 2009–10 tournament had seen both such sides enter in the first round, plus 11th in the SPL – as there were 6 Scottish clubs in Europe.
Unless a Scottish side wins the Europa League or unless the country secures one of the three "Fair Play" places, there will only be 4 clubs in Europe during 2011–12. As a result, both such sides plus 2nd in the First Division entered in the second round.
Semi-Finals –
Following discussions between the SPL and SFL, it was agreed that one or both semi-finals would take place on a weekend, and not on midweek as in previous years. This practice had been the source of criticism – as it forced fans to travel to a neutral venue for a prestigious Semi-Final on a weekday evening in January or February. The details will be confirmed after the quarter-finals.

Schedule

Fixtures and results

First round

The First round draw was conducted on 28 May 2010.
Home Team Score Away Team
Dundee3–0Montrose
Elgin City3 – 2 Ayr United
Dunfermline Athletic5–2Arbroath
Annan Athletic0–1Partick Thistle
Stirling Albion1–2Forfar Athletic
Albion Rovers0–1Airdrie United
Ross County2–1Livingston
Stenhousemuir1–3Brechin City
Raith Rovers4–1East Fife
Clyde2–1Cowdenbeath
Peterhead1–0Berwick Rangers
Stranraer1–7Greenock Morton
Queen of the South5–1Dumbarton
Inverness Caledonian Thistle3–0Queen's Park
East Stirlingshire1–2Alloa Athletic
Source:

Second round

The Second round draw was conducted on 6 August 2010.
Home Team Score Away Team
Kilmarnock6–2Airdrie United
Brechin City2 – 2
3 – 1 		Dundee
Heart of Midlothian4–0Elgin City
Alloa Athletic0–3Aberdeen
St Johnstone2–0Greenock Morton
Ross County3 – 3
4 – 3 		St Mirren
Inverness Caledonian Thistle3–0Peterhead
Partick Thistle0–1Falkirk
Queen of the South4–1Forfar Athletic
Raith Rovers1–0Hamilton Academical
Dunfermline Athletic3–2Clyde
Source:

Third round

The Third round draw was conducted on 31 August 2010.
Home Team Score Away Team
Rangers7–2Dunfermline Athletic
Kilmarnock3–1Hibernian
Aberdeen3–2Raith Rovers
Falkirk4–3Heart of Midlothian
Celtic6–0Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Ross County1 – 2 Dundee United
St Johnstone3–0Queen of the South
Brechin City0–2Motherwell
Source:

Quarter-finals

The Quarter-finals draw was conducted on 23 September 2010. Ties were played on 26 and 27 October.
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Semi-finals

The Semi-finals draw was conducted on 29 October 2010.
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Final

Awards

A team, player and young player were chosen by the Scottish sports press as the top performers in each round.
RoundTeamPlayerYoung playerRef
R1Greenock MortonStewart Kean Marc McCusker
R2Brechin CityGregory Tade Ryan Flynn
R3Jonathan Page
QFPaul Hartley
SF